


Item: Doubt

by B_oys_do_c_ry



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Self-Worth Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29009136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_oys_do_c_ry/pseuds/B_oys_do_c_ry
Relationships: Leo/Reader, Leonardo (TMNT)/Reader
Kudos: 14





	Item: Doubt

“Hey, Y/N?” Leo’s voice was hushed, though it still broke you out of your trance from beneath the swaddle of blankets and pillows. “You, uh…are you doing okay? You haven’t gotten up and you never really nod off for this long…”

“M'fine.” You murmured pitifully.

You couldn’t see him thanks to the sheets that smothered you, and for a long moment, you thought you were thankful for that. He wouldn’t have to see how unstable you were. He wouldn’t have to see the tears trails that stained your flushed cheeks or the shadowed bags that hung below your eyes. Thankfully.

But a gentle tug was felt at the blankets that shielded you from the open air. Immediately, your eyes snapped open in the darkness and you latched onto them with sheer force, begging for them to stay in place. You weren’t prepared for the warmth you had built up for hours and the sense of security to be taken away from you yet. You didn’t vocally protest, but Leo stopped his motion when he noticed your defiance.

The turtle sighed through his nose and pondered on what to do in this type of situation. It wasn’t like you hadn’t been like this before (just like he had) but usually, it was only on occasion. Now he was aware of how often this seemed to get and didn’t have an idea as to why let alone _how_ to work towards making it stop. Especially if every time this occurred you decided to hide away from everyone and everything, including him.

He’d caught himself contemplating whether or not he was the cause of it, but he had seen you get frustrated with him in the past and this wasn’t one of those times. He was accustomed enough with you now to know when he was the problem.

So…what was it now?

Almost simultaneously, an idea came to as he finished questioning himself. Maybe it would be a good place to start.

Leo brought the rest of himself up onto the bed. Even though he wasn’t in a spot to catch a glimpse of you, he felt around for you under the mountain of thick fabrics, releasing a small hum of achievement when he had a general idea of where your limbs were. Then he carefully leaned his form against yours, draping an arm over where he thought was your middle.

“What’s going on, hm?” He cooed softly, hoping for any kind of reaction from beneath him. “C'mon, we said we’d talk about the things that were bothering us, and I wanna help you.”

You didn’t move or make a sound, staying that way for a long few seconds - long enough for Leo to wonder if you had even heard him. But when he opened his mouth to give that comforting tone again, you finally shifted. The blankets were coming undone and he could feel you pushing up against his plastron as you made an effort to lean up. The turtle leaned away to give you your space, knowing you would probably want that considering he was able to get a good look at you. When a pillow fell away from your face, he knew he was probably right.

The bundle of pillows and blankets had tussled your mop of hair and your eyes were red from irritation. The corners of your lips curled slightly as your grief threatened to spill over at any given moment. You squinted your eyes at him, attempting to somehow hide the fresh tears that we’re brimming at your water line. The sight made Leo’s chest tighten, a line drawing between his brows as he reached out to cradled one of your hands in the both of his. He brushed along the tendons beneath your cold dorsal. He didn’t notice it himself, but he was relieved when you didn’t refuse the contact.

“What’s wrong?”

He watched as you sucked in a shaky breath, his shoulders sagging with sympathy at the emotion that clung to it. He waited patiently, giving you the time to talk out your problem, all the while the only thing he could focus on was the fact that you were struggling to make eye-contact with him again. You always did that when you were hesitant, with him and in general. Opening up wasn’t exactly your forte. But he respected that, knowing that you always ended up doing so eventually.

“I-” Voice hoarse, you gulped down as much lubricant as you could to speak up again, wiping at your eyes with your free hand. “I just…why do you like me so much? Like, seriously.”

The red-eared slider wasn’t sure whether the question hurt or concerned him more. Why _wouldn’t_ he like you?

“What are you talking about?”

“Wha- I mean-” To his surprise, your hand flew out of his grasp as you turned your body away, forcefully digging your palms into your sockets.

“I don’t get it! What is there for you to like about me?” You slouched back down with your elbows in your lap and holding your head in your hands, fingers coming up grasp at your roots as you did so. Your wavered voice became more nasally as your sinuses clogged up. “Haven’t I fucked up enough? I’m- a horrible boyfriend! I’ve been ignoring you, an- and- I know it’s what you hate but I did it anyway-”

“Y/N-”

“ _No_ , Leo, seriously!” Your face shot back up from your hands and he finally got a look at the hostility etched into your features, your emotions running rampant in your mind. “I’ve done enough! _Why_ are you even here?”

And with that, Leo recoiled.

The words stung him for an extended moment and he was tight-lipped.

_Why was he even here?_

Leo squinted his eyes at you as he tried to process his thoughts, the first thing he wanted to do was remember what Mikey had told him time and time again. That everyone has bad days.

He knew you didn’t mean for what you said to come out in such a way, and that thought was only further solidified when he watched the horror and regret washing over your face in an instant. Your hands reached out and you leaned towards him urgently with rushed, anxious words tumbling from your lips.

“Shit, Lee, I didn’t mean- that’s not what I-”

“Y/N,” He hushed shortly, bringing his hands to rest upon yours to assure you along with a bittersweet smile. “I know.”

Your form visibly deflated again and you looked down at your now intertwined fingers. Leo didn’t want you to pull away again. He just wanted to comfort you as much as you would let him. 

“I’m sorry.” You muttered quietly.

He took a breath before replying to you in another gentle tone, “You don’t need to be sorry. S’nothing to be sorry for.”

Leo gingerly wrapped his arms around your shoulders and he pulled you closer to his body so you were seated between his legs. When you were comfortably settled there, instinctively your head found the spot on his plated-plastron where you’d rested it so many times prior. Your boyfriend leaned his back against the headboard and one of his hands rubbed firm lines up and down your back in an effort to get you to relax against him. He rested his chin atop your head when he felt your limbs relax in his embrace.

“I like you because I like _you_ , babe. Everything about you is just…so different and so… _woah_.” He couldn’t see it, but your face was lighting up in a bright flush and you snuggled closer up to his chest as he continued, “You would listen to me and hold me close whenever I used to feel bad, or like I was gonna screw everything up, remember? You stuck by my side, and you listened. You never complained about it either, which takes balls ‘cause I know how annoying I can get.“

The boy smiled and his arms curled around you at the memory of how caring you were (and still are). 

“I want to do the same for you. But I need you to let me.” Leo kissed your hairline and continued to rest his head there while the apple’s of his cheeks tinted, “We all have our bad days and that’s okay. But I want you to know that I’m here for you. And I want you to come and talk to me whenever you feel like this, okay? Just…let me take care of you as you did for me.”

Staring ahead at the wall that stood not far from where you were settled, hot to the face as you let his message sink in.

"You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.”

You thought you were going to collectively combust with the amount of admiration you held for him and everything he did. “I really love you.”

Leo grinned, pressing his face into the crown of your head while he tried to simmer down his burning cheeks in your locks. “Well, I hope you know I love you too. And if you didn’t, I’d be pretty scared or else I _really_ wouldn’t be doing my job right.”

You leaned away from him but his arms didn’t let you go, and his grip only tightened sharply when you planted a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Leo just melted whenever you surprised him with affection like that, and you would never get tired of that look he’d make every time you did it.

“Now. Let’s get out of this dark room, it’s starting to smell too much like my place.”

“Oh God, that bad?”

“ _Ouch-_ ”


End file.
